I don’t think George Will is ready to jump on the Trump bandwagon, you guys…
Donald Trump’s damage to the Republican Party, although already extensive, has barely begun. Republican quislings will multiply, slinking into support of the most anti-conservative presidential aspirant in their party’s history. These collaborationists will render themselves ineligible to participate in the party’s reconstruction.
Ted Cruz’s announcement of his preferred running mate has enhanced the nomination process by giving voters pertinent information. They already know the only important thing about Trump’s choice: His running mate will be unqualified for high office because he or she will think Trump is qualified.
[snip]Were he to be nominated, conservatives would have two tasks. One would be to help him lose 50 states — condign punishment for his comprehensive disdain for conservative essentials, including the manners and grace that should lubricate the nation’s civic life. Second, conservatives can try to save from the anti-Trump undertow as many senators, representatives, governors and state legislators as possible.
God, that’s hilarious! Who does the prissy, bow-tied shithead think is reading his column, aside from schadenfreude-huffing Democrats like me? Even Marco Rubio, who called Trump a micro-dicked conman just a few months back, is coming around, perhaps angling for VP.
Yutsano
Oh yes please. Please let Little Marco try to shine the shit turd that is Der Trmupf. I’ll be over here investing in popcorn futures while Hillz carries Florida.
shomi
The biggest popcorn moment for me will be who the world class ahole picks for a running mate. Well he go McCain with another bible spice type former beauty queen. Perhaps some Latina to pander to all the hispanic votes he will never get. Or will he go the other way to find an oh so very serious hard core competent politician to show who he plans to outsource the entire governing aspect of the presidency to.
scav
Which have been so generally observed and witnessed in the mainstream establishment Republican party, both those effective and the base, over the last 8-plus years.
Shawn in ShowMe
I’m convinced that the primary readers of Will, David Brooks and Tom Friedman are snarky, egghead Democrats. Who else has the patience to wade through though that stuff? They’re too easy-going to attract a Republican audience.
Steeplejack
@Betty Cracker:
Your link is to the Post’s home page. Here’s the link to Will’s piece.
Amir Khalid
Will comes off sounding like the young Bernistas on online media who are upset and angry that their guy is losing.
I saw this on TPM. I believe this is not the first endorsement that der Drumpf has got from the Ku Klux Klan. Last time, he seemed to find himself trapped between accepting the endorsement and rejecting it.
AdamK
As much as I admire her incomparable voice and acting talents, I really don’t think Judy Garland is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court.
guachi
It’s Donald Trump. I’d not be surprised at all if he picked a woman he thinks is young and attractive.
JMG
George Will is another one of those pundits, not all of whom are right-wingers, whose sell by date was sometime before Operation Desert Storm yet are still with us. Gloria Borger, David Gergen, Al Hunt, etc. They probably think Kurt Cobain is still alive, at least their commentary is pretty frozen in late 20th century reality.
Amir Khalid
Has Alain removed our ability to edit our own comments?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
i don’t think Li’l Marco’s quite dumb enough to want to ride on Trump’s wagon, I think he and Sweet Paulie Blue-Eyes will be walking a fine line between keeping their distance from the man himself and not pissing off his supporters so they can run in 2020. Marco might be trying to get close enough to some bald-masking styling tips for the same reason. (“so they brush the mullet up and forward and weave it into the scalp? does it hurt?”)
More fun I think will be watching once-and-future has-beens like Chrisie and Newton Leroy trying to become the eminences grasses of a Trump White House. I’m trying to think of who else we might see trying out for those spots… I keep coming back to Bachman and Blackburn as Wannabe Veeps. Rudi, of course, a little man in search of a bigger man to boost him up on some balcony, any balcony…
scav
@guachi: Only after an extended visible contest where the binders full will have to compete against each other in tasks designed to demonstrate their subservience and then get eliminated in face-to-face interviews with an abusive catch-phrase.
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
debbie
I don’t read much right-wing stuff, but Will’s statement about Cruz’s veep pick — how has that enhanced the nomination process?
Smiling Mortician
@guachi: Ivanka, then?
Villago Delenda Est
The Schadenfreude. It’s flowing like water.
Suffer, you reactionary fuckwits. Suffer.
Yellowdog
@shomi: He’ll go for a general. Can’t t have any women without stamina.
NonyNony
@Amir Khalid:
How does that old saying go? Lie down with racist shitheads, wake up with an endorsement from a racist shithead?
ruemara
Reasonable Republican poster boy and Third Way speakerbot Jon Huntsman has endorsed der Trumpenfurher. They’ll all fall in line, sooner or later.
MattF
It is perhaps not surprising to note that a spokesman for Satanism adamantly denies that his sect owes allegiance to Ted Cruz:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/04/29/satanic_temple_explains_why_ted_cruz_isn_t_lucifer.html
Suzanne
I seriously could not enjoy this shit more. This has been a great year to be a liberal.
Villago Delenda Est
@NonyNony: The stupid motherfucker (how’s that for lubricating our civic life with manners and grace?) actually asserted that he had never heard of David Duke, and would have to “research” Duke and his organization to determine if he’d accept the endorsement.
I swear I am not making this up.
MattF
And Timothy Egan makes the important point that Der Trump’s real motto is “Never give a sucker an even break.” Trump supporters were betrayed by the Republican establishment, and they’re being set up for a second betrayal:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/opinion/working-class-fraud.html?ref=opinion
daves09
@AdamK: also too, dead
Yutsano
@srv: It’s a primary. None of that is relevant. Shoo.
Shawn in ShowMe
@debbie:
By giving voters pertinent information. Namely Cruz is a serious man that should be taken seriously. His VP choice is an accomplished woman, just like Hillary Clinton. Serious Republicans now have a choice.
NonyNony
@shomi:
I’m actually really curious about this. I wouldn’t expect Trump to pick someone who might be superior to him, so no politicians who aren’t dumbasses. OTOH even though he clearly thinks that all women are inferior to him his contempt for women is so obvious and so palpable I don’t think he’d want even a model on the ticket with him. Having to admit that a woman was his equal might just break him (am I the only one getting that vibe off of The Donald? I think some of his racism might be pandering to the crowds but his contempt for women is all 100% his own.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up asking Ben Carson to be honest. Someone that Trump has already beaten but who he thinks “treated him well”. Carson bowed out to Trump gracefully and even lobbed a “Cheating Ted” grenade at Ted Cruz. I could actually see that pairing happening…
MattF
@shomi: My guess is that he’ll draft someone to cover his right flank. But we shall see.
Villago Delenda Est
@Shawn in ShowMe: A serious woman who apparently has been brought on board to oversee the handing out of pink slips to the paid help of the campaign. It is her forte, after all.
James E Powell
@Shawn in ShowMe:
I’m convinced that the primary readers of Will, David Brooks and Tom Friedman are snarky, egghead Democrats.
The tote-baggers love those guys, especially the latter two.
Germy
No Trump/Christie ticket? Or will Chris Christie be Attorney General instead?
Villago Delenda Est
@Germy: Attorney General in the Drumpf shadow cabinet.
J.D. Rhoades
@Suzanne:
This has been a great year to be a liberal.
Actually, it’s been the year when being a liberal has meant being abused by members of my own party for supporting an actual liberal candidate rather than the “pragmatic centrist.” We can only hope that Madame Secretary is smarter about how to act towards actual progressive voters than her supporters are. All this hippie punching is what drives progressives to the Naders and Jill Steins and we know how well that works.
Althea
“his comprehensive disdain for conservative essentials, including the manners and grace that should lubricate the nation’s civic life” — Yes, yes, the republican party has been a bastion of civility, grace and manners these last several years, up until the very moment Trump announced his candidacy. I fondly recall the President’s first SOTU speech and that whole “YOU LIE!” thing. Such subtlety, such gentility, such class. And from there, 8 long years of nothing but respect and reverence for the presidency.
MattF
@James E Powell: Maybe Brooks. But not the other two– Friedman has drifted off into his own private space-time continuum, and Will is plainly and openly a partisan hack.
Villago Delenda Est
@MattF: And not one of them has enough working synapses to see it coming. Not one.
NonyNony
@J.D. Rhoades: Oh please. You should see the shit Clinton supporters got in 2008 from Obama supporters and vice-versa. What’s going on this year is almost beanbag in comparison.
J.D. Rhoades
@James E Powell: @MattF:
Louie Gohmert.
daves09
I was surprised Will didn’t throw himself into the coffin and have himself buried with Nancy Reagan.
Villago Delenda Est
@J.D. Rhoades: The butthurt. It’s jumping off the screen at me.
Damn Nader to hell. The blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis is on his hands.
Germy
@MattF: “Will is plainly and openly a partisan hack”
Will always looks so irritated on the morning talk shows when he’s forced to admit, before making some statement of opinion or another, that his wife works for candidate X or candidate Y. It looks like it pisses him off to no end.
VOR
@shomi: “Or will he go the other way to find an oh so very serious hard core competent politician to show who he plans to outsource the entire governing aspect of the presidency to.” – Wait, they have competent people? Perceived to be competent (i.e. Cheney), sure, but actually competent?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Clean cut conservative mannerly GQ spokesmodel Romney and his blue eyed boy and current GOP savior side kick Ryan lost big to the half Kenyan secret Muslim. The GOP is fucked every which way with derTrumpen, no matter whom he picks.
hueyplong
@srv:
Bet everything you have on Trump. Do it now, before people catch on to how smart you are and the betting line moves.
NotMax
@NonyNony
It’s no secret that Scott Brown has been salivating at being picked and often shows up on the same stage as Trump. Just sayin’.
Woman? Jan Brewer.
Or maybe Trump will go with someone with whose name the public is already familiar. Someone from outside politics like, say. George Zimmerman.
Or a ‘unity’ ticket with a Democrat – Zell Miller still breathes.
dslak
@J.D. Rhoades: That must have been so hard for you. So many Clinton folk just don’t appreciate how restrained Sanders’ supporters have been. The fucking cu–I mean, women supporting Clinton really have no idea what it’s like to be maligned by other people on the “left.”
Germy
Will: “In the interest of full disclosure, I am compelled to admit that my wife is a campaign advisor to the candidate I’m about to say is most qualified in this race.”
Lock-jaw Kermit the Frog with a bow tie and a blow dry. Mourning the lack of civility from Trump that otherwise is so pervasive among conservative politicians and thought leaders.
gindy51
@shomi: is Cheney dead yet? He’s already done the job once.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@J.D. Rhoades:
Your butthurt has been duly noted. Now grow the fuck up.
Miss Bianca
@VOR: Competent people who’d be willing to hitch their wagon to Drumpf’s anchor?
HL_guy
@James E Powell: So true. It is an unironic love, too. Perfectly reliable liberals I know are like “Brooks… that’s my guy! He’s the reasonable Republican.” I’m not sure why they like Friedman. Maybe it’s the mustache.
lgerard
Trump should just let some respected party member conduct an intense search for the best possible VP
Someone like, say, Dick Cheney
Germy
@NotMax: It’s no secret that Scott Brown has been salivating at being picked and often shows up on the same stage as Trump. Just sayin’.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up as a VP choice. And he’d spend the entire campaign attacking Elizabeth Warren.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
i know we’re all supposed to be nice now but the relentlessness of the self-pity, self-aggrandizement and sanctimony is so fucking irritating….
dslak
@HL_guy: They see that mustache, and they instinctually recognize the understanding behind it.
J.D. Rhoades
@NonyNony:
This year, I’ve been called a “prick” and a “Bernie Bro,” been told that I’m “snorting unicorn poop,” told that my vote “means exactly nothing” and banned from at least one Hill-bully blog for suggesting that her vote for the Iraq War called her judgment into question. And that, again is by members of my own party.
I’ve said for a long time that if Sanders isn’t the nominee, I’d vote for Clinton to keep Drumpf out of the White House. But some of her supporters are testing my resolve. I’m used to being condescended to by smug wingnuts. Smug Democrats, I don’t need.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
oh my god, an all Cheesy-Batman Villain ticket? if only Frank Gorshin were alive to do the intros
J.D. Rhoades
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Thanks for proving the point.
Rolling Along
I think people are going to be surprised how well Cruz does in Indiana and California.
J.D. Rhoades
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“i know we’re all supposed to be nice now but the relentlessness of the self-pity, self-aggrandizement and sanctimony is so fucking irritating….”:
It certainly is.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@J.D. Rhoades:
Back at ya, bro.
dslak
@J.D. Rhoades: Go to a pro-Bernie site and say something positive about Hillary. See how nicely they treat you. Then go fuck yourself.
J.D. Rhoades
@Villago Delenda Est:
“Damn Nader to hell. The blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis is on his hands.”
Nader wouldn’t have done as well as he did if Gore hadn’t spent so much effort trying to prove he wasn’t really a liberal.
Thoughtful David
I’ve heard the name of Nikki Haley being mentioned as a possible Trump VP. hahahahahahahahaha … whew. I have no respect for Haley (anyone willing to call herself a Republican has to be evil, a fool, or an idiot), but she isn’t so stupid as to hitch her star to Trump.
No, it has to be someone who will pose no threat to Trump and with not enough personality to take the spotlight from him for a second and who is dumb enough to take the job. That can only be a couple of people. I think it will have to be either Noun-verb-911 Guiliani or Sleepy Carson. It might have been Snowbilly Snookie except I suspect Trump would be worried that she might take some of his spotlight. My bet is on Carson, because he’s black, and therefore he’ll bring in 90% of the black vote to Trump. After all, the only reason the blacks voted for Obama was that he’s black, right?
Kathleen
Any writer, pundit, whatever who blames Donald Trump for the demise of the Rethuglican Party is not worth reading.
J.D. Rhoades
@dslak:
“go fuck yourself”
Nice outreach.
Which, again, makes my original point, to wit: I hope Hillary’s not as fond of hippie-punching as you are. The election is hers to lose, and you’re certainly showing her the way to do it.
dnfree
There is precedent for a party leader stepping down to run as an independent in protest of being forcibly aligned with extremists. It happened in Illinois in 1986. Two Lyndon LaRouche candidates (selected because they had appealingly non-ethnic last names like “Fairchild”, apparently) won in the Democratic primary. One of them was the lieutenant governor candidate. Adlai Stevenson stepped down as candidate for governor and ran as a third-party candidate (and didn’t win).
http://articles.philly.com/1986-11-09/news/26091590_1_fairchild-and-janice-hart-larouche-follower-lyndon-larouche
dslak
@J.D. Rhoades: No one here cares about your feelings. Have you considered therapy?
Germy
@J.D. Rhoades: Gore got some bad advice from the people who ran his 2000 campaign. People like Tad Devine.
Mike J
@J.D. Rhoades: I voted for the actual liberal, the candidate that will protect and extend the revolution started by President Obama. I did not vote for the candidate that wanted to repeal and replace, the candidate in the holster of the NRA, the anti-immigrant candidate. There was a real liberal running this, and she is going to be the next president of the United States.
Chyron HR
@J.D. Rhoades:
I hear Salon is looking for top talent like yours, why don’t you go hang out there instead?
dslak
@Mike J: Careful, or you’ll force the delicate little thing to vote for Trump!
Aimai
Manners and grace DO NOT LUBRICATE. That is all.
J.D. Rhoades
@dslak: The only difference between you and a Trump supporter is the color of your bumper sticker.
Villago Delenda Est
@gindy51: The undead thing that is Cheney is still animated, yes. Fed with the fetal tissue that iCarly claims to have seen videos of.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@J.D. Rhoades:
You’re posting on the wrong thread – you should be on Adam’s butthurt thread choosing your particular flavor. Report back when you’ve figured it out.
MattF
@Villago Delenda Est: Bill Kristol would approve.
Villago Delenda Est
@Kathleen: Trump is just the ultimate “Southern Strategy” Rethug. The GOP has been building toward this since 1964.
dslak
@J.D. Rhoades: It just seems that way because you’ve lost your crush. Like any other teenage girl, you’ll get over it.
Villago Delenda Est
@J.D. Rhoades: Elections have consequences. In the case of over 3000 US military members, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, fatal ones.
scav
Some peoples commitment to social justice and bettering the world for all apparently ends exactly where their inalienable right to personalized outreach and wooing begins.
Tim C.
@Kathleen: I know! The constant refrain coming from the GOP over how Trump somehow just came out of nowhere… Hey GOP brain trust:
1) You told your base things that were not only untrue, but impossible to govern on.
2) The more racists and other forms of bigot you welcomed into the party, the more power they were going to have.
3) And oh yeah, your Citizen’s United masterstroke? Now every billionare can fund his own campaign or have his own pet candidate,
You built this.
J.D. Rhoades
Yep. Great time to be a liberal all right.
smith
@J.D. Rhoades: Take it from a hippie who’s been punched for almost 50 years, if you can’t take it and bob back up, you should get out of the game, kiddo.
Betty Cracker
@J.D. Rhoades: You realize this goes both ways, don’t you? There are a couple of Sanders dead-enders who post here to regularly accuse Clinton supporters of being Republicans, war-mongers, plutocrat toadies, etc. How about we all climb down off the fucking cross and work together to keep the Orcs out of the White House, okay?
A Ghost To Most
@J.D. Rhoades:
If you are looking for sympathy, the BernieBros wore that out here a month ago.
dslak
@scav: I’m actually sympathetic to the view that work is needed to woo Bernie supporters to Clinton. But I also don’t believe in encouraging or rewarding whiners.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was gonna post this earlier, but I didn’t want to restart The Fight, but since JD seems determined to wallow in his own tears (I guess drowning is too much to hope for)
I still think Sarandon is a great actress, but her privilege bubble is even bigger than I thought. and as a few people have pointed out, why was she untroubled by Edwards’ war-vote in ’08?
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/02/susan-sarandons-new-york-primary
Aimai
@J.D. Rhoades: snorting unicorn poop? Is that really much of an insult?
hueyplong
This doesn’t appear to be that part of the program in which the former foes make up and march forward holding a single banner aloft.
That’s ok. We’ve still a long way from November. But when that day comes, to paraphrase Mr. Pierce, ya bastids best play together nicely and remember that condescension and smugness would be the least of our worries should the Trumpenfuehrer do something other than get humiliated across all states not looking to secede on Nov. 9.
J.D. Rhoades
@Betty Cracker:
” How about we all climb down off the fucking cross and work together ”
Sorry, I’m too busy “fucking off” and filling out my “butthurt report form” as suggested by the Clintonistas.
Aimai
@scav: very well put.
gene108
What irks me about Trump is he will be a fleeting phenomenon.
He will be easily disowned by other Republicans as “not a true conservative” and/or a RINO (Republican in Name Only), and the post-Trump-mortem will reveal Republicans need to get back to their conservative roots and look for a True Conservative to lead them, and therefore cutting school lunch programs is essential, along with banning abortion, in the Quest for a True Conservative, who will not compromise Conservative (Christian) Values.
And if Hillary wins, there will be the TEA Party v. 2.0 ready to launch to wash away the Trump-stink from the Republican brand in a jiffy.
Bush, Jr.’s loser stink hung onto Republicans until mid-February 2009, after which date the media started treating Republicans like a serious bunch of grown-ups again.
Figure Trump’s loser stink will hang onto Republicans for about a week, at most, and then it is back to Republicans being the grown-up daddy party again, which is full of fiscally conservative serious adults, who would never nominate a semi-failed businessman demagogue as their nominee for President.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Betty Cracker:
To say nothing about twitter swarming of the most racist and sexist shit I’ve ever seen coming from so called progressives, most of which definitely has not been rodent copulating. I just can’t even with the waaaaaaahhhhhhh! from the Sanders side anymore. Nothing hurts my ears more than whining.
hueyplong
@J.D. Rhoades:
“Sorry, I’m too busy “fucking off” and filling out my “butthurt report form” as suggested by the Clintonistas.”
Allow me to compliment you for getting the order right. Less time-consuming task first.
trollhattan
@Aimai:
Georgie has said and written many weird things, but nothing weirder than this.
He’s been drinking breakfast with Nooners, methinks.
hueyplong
@gene108:
The desirability of Republicans learning from their mistakes is kind of overrated.
Miss Bianca
@J.D. Rhoades: Oh, for Heaven’s sake. If you’d spite-vote for someone other than the only Clearly Not Insane Candidate Who Can Win because Hillz Supporterz Be Mean and Shit, then you’re really too silly to argue with.
schrodinger's cat
I so tired Trump, can’t believe there is at least 6 months of this shit.
D58826
Can’t findthe link but a WAPO columnist wrote that she doesn’t believe any of the stories in the Nat. Enquirer about Ted’s sex life. On the other hand there are a well know set of facts about Ted and the opposite sex most of which invoke reptiles or spores.
? Martin
@Thoughtful David:
Not fuckable enough. Trump doesn’t do identity politics the way normal racist people do. He measures everything through their fuckability factor. His evaluation of his one-year old daughters tits will serve as proof here. In his mind, if he put up some smokin’ hot VP candidate he’d win 100% of the vote simply by contrasting how hot his VP is and how ‘gruesome’ Hillary is (for the record, I think she is lovely). I forget who on Twitter said that Trump’s VP pick would be easy because he owns Miss America is pretty much on the mark.
Now, the big question is whether his bootlicking campaign team will be able to talk him out of this suicidal strategy or not. Caribou Barbie will be on the short list. Palin saw an easy mark there ages ago, so she’s on board with that new wardrobe. Erika Harold will get shot down – she ticks a lot of boxes except for the ‘ever been elected to office box’, but she’s probably Trumps #1 choice. Pam Bondi has the blonde thing going, so she’s probably #2. I agree that Nikki Haley isn’t stupid enough to jump in that dumpster fire. Michelle Bachman might be, though.
Donald is always #1 alpha male, so any male VP will need to be someone who knows his place and be willing to show that in public. Getting him to consider a guy for VP will be tough. Donald doesn’t share a stage with anyone.
petesh
@Germy: Ah yes, Tad Devine. The guy getting seriously fat out of the Bernie campaign, not least because the campaign was dumb enough to hire him without capping his fees (they raised and spent more than expected) and of course he kept on billing because a deal’s a deal, amiright, and there’s nothing wrong in doing well by doing good, and one hand washes the other, and he’s advised a Presidential campaign before, you know. (Al Gore’s, why did you ask?)
http://modernliberals.com/bernie-sanders-pay-tad-devine-800000-march/
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@J.D. Rhoades: Sorry, I’m too busy “fucking off”
you don’t seem to be fucking off….
Peale
I think Grant, Garfield, Roosevelt and Dewey were probably less inclined to support conservative principals than Trump. Possibly Taft, too.
scav
@dslak: It’s the personal attention that some insist on that gets up my nose. Integrating the best, most popular, of all the candidates positions into the final party platform is a part of the process. Kowtowing to the emotional needs of demanding supporters, especially supporters preening about their moral superiority and support for social justice for the downtrodden is errant nonsense.
Stella
@J.D. Rhoades: If I believed all the crap the BernieBros and Republicans say about Hillz, I’d hate her myself. Fortunately, there’s a lot of actual data out there, so I’ve got a more realistic picture. Not perfect, but pretty damn good.
Thoughtful David
@gene108:
Normally I’d agree that what you say is true. But I think this time is different. The Trumpenproletariat are not going to go back into the cave where they’ve been kept up to now. And they HATE the establishment Republicans. And vice versa. There will be blood in the Republican party after Clinton rolls through a 40 state victory.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Why is she apparently untroubled by Ralph Nader’s not insignificant role of making the war vote of 2003 possible in the first place? You can’t tell me that Tweedledee (Al Gore) would have launched a war of aggression against Iraq…which Tweedledumb (the deserting coward) most certainly did.
smith
@? Martin: This is why Jan Brewer is out of the question. Trump wouldn’t be able to stand being next to a woman who isn’t conventionally attractive. Have you seen the stage-full of tall blondes he regularly appears with?
sukabi
@NotMax: never be Jan Brewer, too old and worn for trump. Plus estrogen, and it’s three strikes.
Aimai
@J.D. Rhoades: see scav up above for the only correct retort to this pathetic piece of narcissistic whining. I wint ask how old you are–im sure that would rank very high on your personal list of intolerable cruelties–but the struggle doesnt end the day after your candidate loses, let alone months before the actual election. Politics, governance, legislation–life in effect–continues all year round. If you dont care enough about your vaunted csuses to continue to engage politically because other people disagree with you just didnt care about them. You just wanted to be part of a winning moment, a celebrity exchange of endorsements, a romantic feeling. I would say to you only what i have had to say to myself do many times: buckle the fuck down and tikkun olam. No one is going to pat you on the back for it–in fact they will never know you did it. Its your choice but once you made the choice its your duty.
Betty Cracker
@J.D. Rhoades: Oh well. I tried.
Shawn in ShowMe
@HL_guy:
Class is a powerful unifier. Once you’re living in a comfortable middle class suburb and all your friends are like-minded middle class people, good-natured conversationalists like Brooks and Friedman begin to sound reasonable. Especially when you support the downtrodden in spirit while moving as far away from them as possible. Socially liberal and fiscally conservative, how does it work?
MattF
@gene108: This is the argument for Dems to favor Cruz’s nomination. I don’t buy it for two reasons: 1) I reject any ‘Worse is better’ argument on principle, worse is not better, worse is worse; and 2) partisan conservatives really seem to despise Trump. For reason #2, I have to rely on what I read in the paper; I don’t really empathize with that reaction.
I think Trump’s nomination will unleash disruptive forces in the Republican party that haven’t been seen before. But, as ever, we shall see.
? Martin
@gene108:
Maybe, but if Trump flips the Senate back to Dems, there will be reckoning. Romney’s failure was easy enough to dismiss because Republicans didn’t lose anything downticket. They’re willing to sacrifice the White House to a strategy that gives them states and Congress (as they should). But if Trump hurts them downticket and doesn’t deliver the white house, then shit will change.
WaterGirl
@? Martin: But, Martin, you’ve mostly mentioned women, who will be bleeding out of their whatevers – I don’t think he’s pick a woman for VP in a million years.
? Martin
@smith:
Exactly. They aren’t there by accident.
Villago Delenda Est
@? Martin:
As Chris Christie has discovered to his eternal regret.
Betty Cracker
@? Martin: Pam Bondi is definitely a possibility. Trump would consider her attractive. He would think one vagina cancels out another because he’s that type of pig. And he might believe she could help him win Florida.
Aimai
@? Martin: right. Thats why he wont pick scott brown. Too good looking. I slso think trump wont pick a republican politician at all dince he is running against the party. I think he will try for a retired general. It suits his fascist aesthetic and his message. But i bet he gets turned down by a lot of them before he finds one crazy enough to do it.
? Martin
@WaterGirl: Listen to his own words. He doesn’t hate women – he just doesn’t respect them. Women are tools to be used, and since he’s attracted to a hot woman, voters will be as well, which will translate to votes for him. It’s not like the VP will have any independence in his administration – he’s the boss – so the choice of VP matters only in their ability to generate votes.
AdamK
@daves09: But ageless and immortal on the silver screen.
smith
@Aimai:
Is Boykin available?
Major Major Major Major
@J.D. Rhoades: Such a polite little sea lion, this one.
Shawn in ShowMe
@J.D. Rhoades:
Thanks to the web, we all have the ability to live in echo chambers. Back in the good/bad old days of physical communities, when our neighborhoods had a random distribution of wingnuts and bleeding hearts, we were forced to grow thicker skins. Today we take ourselves far too seriously. ” Go fuck yourself” used to be a term of endearment. Didn’t stop us from having a beer together later in the week.
Zinsky
There are few people I despise more than George Will. The self-important little pseudo-intellectual turd should have his horn-rimmed glasses smashed into his face. Repulsive little twit’s opinions aren’t worth a plugged nickel. Fuck him!
hueyplong
Betty Cracker knows something about Florida politics. I don’t. But it appears that they’ve done each other solids in the recent past. The offensive link source is chosen because it somehow seems to add credibility in this single instance.
http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2016/03/21/pam-bondi-trump-foundation-crew-irs-nonprofit-justice-for-all/
? Martin
@Aimai:
Maybe, but I doubt it. He’s not going to feel like he needs to toughen up the ticket. That’s his job – to be seen as the one most willing to pull a guys teeth out. Putting a general there just creates competition which he doesn’t want. His campaign may push for that, but my guess is he’ll fight it.
MattF
@smith: It’s true that nominating ‘My God is bigger than your God’ Boykin would kill several birds with one stone.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Is Alain working on producing the
TPS Reportsediting and html tag buttons? Cuz that would be great.Thoughtful David
@? Martin:
You make some good points. I really think Snowbilly Snookie is out, though, because she can sometimes take center stage. He wants somone he can dominate. This is why I think a military general is out: they tend to have their own opinions, and many of them have their own egos.
Aimai
@? Martin: oh. I think thats wrong. Because trump sees the VP slot as just another subordinate role. He will want someone with name recognition, who bolsters his masculine street cred, who reassures voters that the military will accept trump, but who in reality lacks a DC power base or ties to prominent republicans. He will brag about the guy, but use him largely as stage decoration.
smith
@Thoughtful David: Palin is also a Loser, and Trump couldn’t have that.
? Martin
Nice to see that Republicans are self-aware of Cleek’s Law:
That is precisely Cleeks’ Law, but with more words.
Villago Delenda Est
@Aimai: That vile asshat Boykin, or perhaps LTC (Ret, used to be a one-star) Sinclair.
Technocrat
@? Martin:
God damn, Martin. Now when I look at a Republican pol, I will be wondering “is he fuckable enough?”. Great analysis, horrific mental images.
Major Major Major Major
If my Facebook feed is any indication, combined with the lack of usual trolling here plus, the Bernfeelers seem to be insisting on civility in this debate now. Why, if only we would just have some patience, they’d be willing to consider supporting our sell-out neoconservative DINO corrupt murdering racist warmongering corporate whore.
They’re even willing to write five-sentence posts asking about incivility. Must be exhausting.
hueyplong
The dude (Jerome?) who held up a mirror for Morris Day in Purple Rain would be a perfect VP for Trump if only he were Caucasian. Ed McMahon would work except he’s dead. The look on Trump’s face while he watched Palin do her thing at her endorsement “speech” sure seemed like Donald crossing her name off the VP list. Wayne Simmons apparently just entered a guilty plea.
So I’m going to have to put my $2 on Rudy Giuliani, with my backup guess being Someone I’ve Never Heard Of who’s a big deal on right wing radio. Third choice, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, because most Bundys appear to be on the way to ineligibility as well, and the other (Ted) is dead.
? Martin
@Technocrat: Puts Louis Gohmert in a new light, doesn’t it?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Thoughtful David: the only time I’ve seen Trump have what I think was a normal human reaction was his (again, I think) look of barely concealed exasperation and confusion (and maybe even embarrassment? I may be giving him too much credit) during Palin’s endorsement speech.
Technocrat
@? Martin:
That was uncalled for.
Technocrat
OT: Are web controls missing for anyone else? I’m getting no edit, no formatting buttons, nothing.
hueyplong
Are you people saying Louis Gohmert is a real person and not some sort of CGI character out of a Star Wars bar scene? Get out.
Major Major Major Major
@Technocrat: Yeah, they’re gone. But you have basic HTML tips still!
MattF
@Technocrat: No editing buttons, but I see the navigation buttons.
Soylent Green
@J.D. Rhoades
Oh, cry me a river. Any “progressive” whose resolve is too weak to vote against Trump does not care about advancing progressive causes. It’s this same Nader shit all over again.
We will do just fine without you delicate flowers.
bemused
Whoever Trump picks for his vp won’t be a running mate, male or female. He’ll pick someone who understands that he/she will only be a yes, sir Mr. Trump appendage basically allowed to say very little or nothing.
Villago Delenda Est
@Major Major Major Major: Still sucks, though. Being able to blockquote with a simple highlight and button click is something one gets very used to.
Technocrat
@bemused:
I think the Chris Christie hostage crisis was a telling preview. But I’m going to go against the grain and say Trump won’t pick an obvious yes-man/yes-woman. I suspect his pick will be someone equally douchey, who is actually enamoured of Trump’s genius. Think Omarosa. I’m just not sure who in the Republican Party fits that bill (besides Palin).
WaterGirl
@? Martin: “It’s not like the VP will have any independence in his administration – he’s the boss – so the choice of VP matters only in their ability to generate votes.”
Once you place those limitations on the VP – just good for getting votes and then utterly powerless and inconsequential… then I can see how he might pick a beautiful woman.
Ugh. It’s so wrong that Trump has made it this far.
Rolling Allng
Cruz is going to have a big week in India and then really shock people in Cali on June 4th. He’s going to play very well in the San Jaoquin Valley and Orsnge County, as well as the “Jefferson” region. Trump will not.
The struggle for our party rolls on!
WaterGirl
@Zinsky: “There are few people I despise more than George Will. The self-important little pseudo-intellectual turd should have his horn-rimmed glasses smashed into his face. Repulsive little twit’s opinions aren’t worth a plugged nickel. Fuck him!”
You forgot the words “little prick”.
Rolling Allng
Cruz is going to have a big week in India and then really shock people in Cali on June 4th. He’s going to play very well in the San Jaoquin Valley and Orsnge County, as well as the “Jefferson” region. Trump will not.
The struggle for our party rolls on!
#NeverTrump
Linda
But don’t you see? When the Repub debacle falls down, True Believers have their excuse all ready: if Trump were a Real Conservative, he would win. You can already see that argument on Redstate.com. It neatly dodges the question of why nobody–not even fellow Republicans–wanted to vote for anybody in their “deep bench.”
Villago Delenda Est
@Linda: “Conservatism” cannot fail, it can only be failed.
These motherfuckers are the reincarnation of Trotsky.
CarolDuhart2
No politician who wants to go further is going to link up with Trump. Trump is a dumpster fire in progress, and will probably lose. Even if he/she agrees with Trump on opinions, they know that Trump won’t be able to shield them in further contests from the wrath of the electorate. And from the statements that they would have to make to defend him.
Which is why I think it will be Carson. No energy or ambition to top Trump, and little desire for a real political career. Carson has a career of his own (religious grifter) that won’t be affected by this run. So he can say what he likes defending Trump. Those who still believe him will rationalize that he’s just being a team player, that he doesn’t really mean that stuff. If he loses, no sweat-and he has taken one for the team and raised his profile even higher.
If he wins, he will not want any responsibilities anyway besides the traditional VP stuff of attendng funerals and conferences.
The Lodger
@Shawn in ShowMe: I think you’re missing a sarcasm tag there.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Trump will probably pick someone from media so that he remains the presidential one, and ao the press will continue to fellate him (eeeeeewwww) and give him free media. Morning Ho would probably do it.
Keith G
@J.D. Rhoades:
Nader wouldn’t have done as well as he did if Gore hadn’t spent so much effort trying to prove he wasn’t really a liberal.
Joey Maloney
@Aimai:
What’s his name, Boykin, the one who got cashiered after publicly declaring we’d win in Iraq because God can kick Allah’s ass.
Villago Delenda Est
@WaterGirl: The office of Vice-President is “not worth a bucket of warm piss”. This according to John Nance Gardner, who was FDR’s first VP, from 1933 to 1941.
Villago Delenda Est
@Joey Maloney: My God is bigger than your God. The catch, of course, is that they’re the same God.
PsiFighter37
@hueyplong: Can’t be Giuliani – VP can’t be from the same state, and I don’t think Giuliani can credibly claim to live somewhere else like Darth Cheney could.
Baud
Not gonna happen. That would make Hillary > Reagan.
sacrablue
His vp choice will be Governor Fallon of Oklahoma. She hasn’t already rejected the idea like Haley and Martinez have.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
Had to look her up and yeah, dishy enough for the Donald–does she have the self-respect to steer well clear? California could supply Ashley Swearengin, who I’m certain would love to decamp Fresno.
Al Swearengin woul be ideal, of course.
? Martin
@CarolDuhart2:
Yeah, for a guy Carson is a good pick. The dude could both be on fire and getting eaten by lion and would still manage to not upstage Trump.
Keith G
@J.D. Rhoades:
“Nader wouldn’t have done as well as he did if Gore hadn’t spent so much effort trying to prove he wasn’t really a liberal.”
Remember that according to Tipper Gore, Prince and his music were a danger to American families.
Nader did not cost Gore nearly as many votes as did the large stick that was up Albert’s ass. Climate change aside, I am happy that neither he nor Tipper are thought of much these days. Good riddance.
@Keith G: What happen to edit? Is this new build going pear-shaped already?
Technocrat
@CarolDuhart2:
I think that’s true. Pat Toomey (R-PA) very publicly voted for Ted Cruz to avoid the Trumpstink.
? Martin
@Baud: Well, we have a tradition that the only president that will win 50 states will be Washington. The electoral college will always choose a state to guarantee that tradition continues – I think the deal is the losing candidate’s home state, so NY would have to go for Trump and I’m guessing they’d demand that asterisk in the history books be quite large.
J.D. Rhoades
@Soylent Green:
Never fails. Point out that some Clintonistas are nasty, condescending, and dismissive and their reaction is to get MORE nasty condescending and dismissive.
Good luck winning over the independents.
Technocrat
@? Martin:
LOL! You’re on fire today.
@Keith G:
It’s a test to see who’s committed enough to type “blockquote” over and over
Betty Cracker
@trollhattan: Bondi absolutely does not have the self-respect to steer clear. She’s already endorsed Trump and long ago went full-metal wingnut and embraced the ambulatory dildo that is Governor Scott. Still, if there’s anything to that story hueyplong linked at #130, maybe Trump will steer clear of her.
? Martin
Oh, I missed that Anne Coulter has signed onto the Trumptanic. She was VP on Sharknado 3, so she even has experience.
Make it so, America.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
So…perfect then!
The donation thing sounds bad–you’d think an AG might know a bit about the rules and such.
Technocrat
@? Martin:
I was hoping for Anne to get Press Secretary.
bemused
@Technocrat:
iow, a Trump echo. When Trump says his economy will be huge, the vp will just repeat “HUGE”, yadda, yadda.
El Caganer
George Eff Will thinks he’s a writer because he knows how to misuse multisyllabic words.
Adam L Silverman
@J.D. Rhoades: That image wasn’t directed at you or anyone in particular. And it certainly didn’t have anything to do with the election per se. As I’ve written here before, I stay out of these things for professional reasons. I posted that image last night because no matter what someone on the front page posts or what someone puts in a comment someone always complains. That is fine, but figured poking a bit of fun at ourselves couldn’t hurt. So if you took it as directed at you, you have my sincerest apology. It had nothing specific to do with the election.
Keith G
I did god’s work today and laid out a convincing and engaging argument to a 19 y.o. Sanders supporter that he should not be disappointed, but actually happy to vote for Hillary when she becomes the nominee. He absorbed it and bought it. S’not really all that hard.
We will be fine.
Villago Delenda Est
@bemused: Which is why Ed McMahon would be perfect.
J R in WV
@srv:
Pretty sure it’s still George Walker Bush, Dick Cheney, and their selected minions.
SATSQ, srv.
Once that egg was broken, it wasn’t going to be put together by the 101st and the 82nd, etc. Not what they do, after all. They break things, someone else has to put them back together, and Bush didn’t have any of those. It’s a Democratic thing, after all, fixing a broken government.
Jeffro
@ruemara: you have got to be kidding…
lwestsd
@Aimai:
Well, I suppose you could sneeze a rainbow, but that would make it more of a hazard than an insult.
hueyplong
@PsiFighter37:
Giuliani can’t claim another state, but our boy Trump has a residence in FLA, doesn’t he? And knowing how these a-holes operate, isn’t it at least plausible that Trump has claimed FLA residency to avoid state income taxation? I’ve seen someone link to images of one of his income statements, but I can’t remember if that was a federal return or, more importantly, whether the pages imaged included his residence address.
The Lodger
@J.D. Rhoades: Too bad the only cure for your particular brand of butthurt is Preparation “H”.
J R in WV
@J.D. Rhoades:
But Gore won the election.
He lost to a coup on the part of 5 hopelessly corrupt Republican justices. The first coup in American history. Hopefully the only coup, given how badly it turned out. Hope those justices feel the burning guilt every night around bed-time, that quiet time of night when one’s thoughts turn to one’s part in history. Talking to you, Sandra!
We know how Fat Tony feels about it, now.
Robert Sneddon
@WaterGirl:
Once you place those limitations on the VP – just good for getting votes and then utterly powerless and inconsequential… then I can see how he might pick a beautiful woman.
Caitlyn Jenner, maybe? Tall, beautiful, Republican, famous, first-of-a-kind-minority VP pick?
Amaranthine RBG
@dslak: @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Maybe this would be a good time for someone to post a video about online bullying.
Maybe one where people sit down face to face and read vile tweets that were sent to someone.
bemused
@Villago Delenda Est:
Exactly. McMahon was the best second banana ever though I can’t picture a Republican capable of pulling that off or even willing to be Trump cheerleader.
J.D. Rhoades
@Keith G:
“I did god’s work today and laid out a convincing and engaging argument to a 19 y.o. Sanders supporter that he should not be disappointed, but actually happy to vote for Hillary when she becomes the nominee. He absorbed it and bought it. S’not really all that hard.”
No. But it is rare. See above.
Technocrat
@Robert Sneddon:
Wow. Let me pick up the pieces of my head. It would certainly own the news cycle for…ever.
But it would take him out of the spotlight, so probably no.
Adam L Silverman
@Aimai: He most likely wont get one. There are very few retired generals or admirals that far off the map. Yes, there’s LTG Boykin who was mentioned by @smith: and @MattF: and @Villago Delenda Est:. There’s also a retired admiral that has been pushing an inaccurate version of something that happened with Kharg Island back in the late 1970s. He might be willing to do it, but he’s in his late 80s, so doubtful. There are a few angry two stars floating around, largely because they never made it past two stars (which for most of these folks was the right call, I had a former CG that got screwed, but he never let it slow him down, took several extensions on retirement, and graciously served under three and four star generals that he was actually much more senior than. Class act!) that might be willing to do it. But if he were to chose one, I doubt it would be anyone that would be taken seriously. Most of the general officers/flag officers go out of their way to be apolitical and apartisan as they feel that is the way to go given their unique positions of leadership and responsibility within the US system. And from what I’ve been reading in various reports and interviews, they are very, very worried about what a Trump presidency would do to the military.
dslak
@Amaranthine RBG: I read mine out loud, and it made me laugh!
D58826
@Technocrat: I don’t have them either
? Martin
@bemused:
…repeat “YUGE” while heaving her breasts up for visual effect…
The Lodger
@Peale: I thought of Eisenhower. He was pretty “anti-conservative” during World War II if you know what I mean.
? Martin
@Adam L Silverman: Trump would declare that it’s sad! the country has such a lack of a blonde four star sociopathic generals with huge knockers.
Adam L Silverman
@hueyplong: They have. Bondi is a highly partisan AG who has wielded the power of her office for partisan, and in this case personal, advantage. She’s smart, to a point, has good political instincts, and was very attractive when she started making her run at the state level. Since then she’s, like almost all of us as we age, added some weight. My guess is she won’t be considered hot enough anymore to be picked to be the VP candidate on a Trump ticket.
WaterGirl
@Robert Sneddon: Good thought, but I’m pretty sure that she would creep him out. I cannot imagine anyone with a more rigid view of women than trump.
D58826
Expect Honed Trump Material At The WH Correspondents Dinner. could be fun
WaterGirl
@bemused: Guessing you have never watched the Late, Late Show with James Cordon? I think Reggie Watts plays that role perfectly, and he’s a lot more fun than Ed McMahon.
Adam L Silverman
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Last time I checked in with Alain, last night, he had not been working on the system. I have just pinged him about the missing buttons.
D58826
Why no matter how hard we try, Bush 43 will always be with us – from Iraq PARLIAMENT SEIZED: PROTESTERS STORM BAGHDAD GREEN ZONE
Ivan X
@Villago Delenda Est:
I feel tremendous antipathy towards Nader, but I can’t hold him responsible for Bush’s non-promised actions — it’s not like Bush campaigned on going to war with Iraq, or that it was widely understood that’s what he would do. It seems like a failure of logic which could be easily (possibly dangerously) applied to many situations where fault needs to be correctly assigned.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: Beat you by 45 minutes! :-) Maybe if we all ping him, he’ll get the message.
Adam L Silverman
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Just heard back. He’s not working on the site but will go and check now and see what’s happening. I had a couple of folks ask about issues yesterday thinking he was working under the hood, but he hasn’t been adjusting anything. So he’s going to go see if he can figure it out and get it fixed.
Mike J
@The Lodger: Extinguish the Bern with Preparation H.
bemused
@WaterGirl:
No, usually can’t keep my eyes open past 10.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: Won’t be Sinclair. The reason he’s now a lieutenant colonel retired instead of well ensconced in his tenure as a major general (two star) will be used relentlessly in the oppo campaign.
trollhattan
@? Martin:
Fixable, under a Trump administration. Am also expecting him to reunite Kadafhi’s personal guard as his day-to-day security, and also, too, part the first of his Middle East outreach. Hell, I could see Trump adopting the Kadafhi uniform along with Nixon’s old White House palace guard uniforms. Class up the joint.
Joel
Will uses the term “Republican quisling” like the Republicans aren’t the intellectual descendants of Benedict Arnold.
Timurid
@Rolling Allng:
Cruz is going to India? To get the endorsement of fellow Dominionist shitheel Narendra Modi?
Or is it Indiana? Same difference…
Adam L Silverman
@Technocrat: I’ve pinged Alain, he’s now trying to diagnose the problem and then fix it.
Amaranthine RBG
@Adam L Silverman: You’re setting your sights too high. Somebody like Allen West would check the boxes for Trump.
D58826
Over on kos they have the electoral college projection as of today. 381 votes for Hillary. and that includes Mississippi, Arizona, and Utah in blue. I hope Scalia packed his long johns it might get a bit chilly where he is now
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: It won’t be Bondi. She’s put on too much weight since becoming Attorney General. She no longer qualifies as slim/petite/statuesque and therefore attractive.
BTW, before anyone starts, I’m not ragging on her for putting on weight. Its just obvious that she has, which happens to most of us as we age.
scav
@Timurid: Indiana is a fascinating heartland for conservatives. With the voting importance of India and farmers’ market shopping opportunities indistinguishable from Bagdad’s.
trollhattan
I kan haz edit?
Merci!
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks Adam!. It’s nice to know people in high places!
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: There were a number of two stars who commanded divisions (one does not command a division unless one is being groomed for three and four stars) who said “fuck this shit” after commanding divisions in Iraq.
Technocrat
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks Adam. And thanks again Alain.
Villago Delenda Est
@Joel: Or the very people who would sell out their country to an invading German army.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: Yeah, but I think WHY Sinclair got retired two grades below his last active duty grade would appeal to Drumpf.
When I read the account of his hail and farewell from his brigade command position, I broke out in hives. Unbelievable…his junior officers openly mocked him.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ivan X: Nader actively campaigned using the old “Nach Hitler, Uns” meme.
I hold him responsible for that blood. He should have known better, but his megalomania got in the way.
Adam L Silverman
@? Martin: There are only 19 female generals in the US Army. None are 4 stars. The most senior of the three stars (I think there are three of them) is currently in an important billet, but may be done unless she gets a fourth star. She was not nominated for a more prestigious/important billet about two years ago, so there may be no more up for her, just out.
Adam L Silverman
@Amaranthine RBG: It won’t be West.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: This is true, but those guys aren’t the type to accept VP positions, especially from someone like Trump.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: It was something, wasn’t it? Amazing how the selection boards work. I used to patiently explain to colonels and lieutenant colonels why GEN Petraeus wasn’t going to remake the Army in his vision/image: he didn’t control the promotion boards. And until he could place his people on all of those boards in enough numbers to change what was being considered important for promotion, things would continue the way they are/have been.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: Oh, agreed with bells on. They’d be the last guys to sign up with Drumpf.
smith
Too bad Admiral Stockdale is no more, he’d be perfect. Military, and sleepy, and experienced at losing as VP.
James E Powell
@srv:
Saddam Hussein
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Trump/LaPage
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Is anyone but me getting a little nauseated by what comes floating to the surface by the “trolling Trump’s brain for possible VP picks”? Between PILFs with huge…tracts of land…and generals/admirals/others who’d be willing enough to jump onto the rails when the Crazy Train comes bearing down, I…I can’t even.
Carson might not be the most shocking pick. On my last perusal of the Book of Faces I saw that one of my Young Republican nephews was enthusing with apparent sincerity about the great honor it was to meet the guy. Oohh…that’s another I Can’t Even right there…
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: I’m almost afraid to ask what the P in PILF stands for…
It is what it is. It looks like Trump will be the nominee, so speculation on who he would pick is normal. Trying to figure out how he’d approach making a pick is, however, highly abnormal!
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Some further info on the report released about the hospital bombing.
Aside: Tried going to the CENTCOM site to see the whole thing. Firefox gives all sorts of warnings about that, mainly that the security license is iffy. Beyond ironic. IIRC, it was centcom6.mil.
MattF
@Joel: Now that you mention Will’s ‘quisling’ comment… It’s a flat-out violation of Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment (‘Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican’). Considering that Will is very much a votary of St. Reagan’s eternal flame, it’s quite significant. Real evidence that the Rs are turning their fire against each other.
Villago Delenda Est
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: LePage would be perfect from an ideological point of view, but defies the conventional “geographic balance” meme. Someone from the South might be better to serve that old chestnut. Voldemort of Florida? Dr. Strangelove of Texas? Someone already mentioned Failin’ Fallin of OK.
Amaranthine RBG
@Adam L Silverman: That may be. But my point is that you are approaching this logically – looking that the highest ranking, most qualified military candidates.
There’s no reason to believe that Trump would take such a logical approach. Just get anyone who’s worn a uniform and !bam, many (if not most) of his followers would think “Trump really cares about the military and OUR values.”
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: The CENTCOM thing is a dead link right now, I tried getting the actual report yesterday and just got the usual NIPR no page response.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Politician
ETA Referring to politicians He, Drumpf would… you know…not anyone else.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: Is the count on flag officers in the Army still somewhere in the neighborhood of 450?
Adam L Silverman
@Amaranthine RBG: Okay, I see where you’re going with it now.
Peter
@Keith G: I don’t think anyone’s particularly sad about Tipper’s departure from public life. That said, for anyone even remotely left-leaning, the 2000 election was still a really easy call that a whole bunch of Naderites fucked up somehow.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Hm. If I were the suspicious type…
Something doesn’t smell right.
Anyway, some more info at my comment linked to above, the bulk of it from military publications.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Don’t get me started on no strike lists. I have the master list, with grid coords, of all known/suspected heritage sites in Iraq. I got it for the Army from a very understanding (as in recognizing we wanted to make sure this stuff didn’t get blown up) archeologist back in 2008 – despite what the self aggrandizing, and dumber than a box of hair and/or rocks, Heritage Officer at the Embassy Baghdad told the press in 2009 – she got it from me. I even have the email! Anyhow, back in Fall 2014 as things were heating back up, I made sure to pass it on to my contacts at ARCENT and CENTCOM so no one had to go looking for it in a database. My CENTCOM point of contact emailed me back to say: “I passed it on to the appropriate folks. They say thanks, but aren’t sure what to do with it. I told them to plot it against the targeting list…” Things are what they are.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: Around 315 right now.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: The centcom6 link works fine. Just went there, got the docs, will review later over several days. The link in the article you linked to yesterday was a dead link.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
The acronym SNAFU wasn’t created just to be cute.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Villago Delenda Est:
LePage has enough hate and ignorance for the entire country. Maine is just the other end of the Appalachians.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: I figured part of the reason that heritage sites in Iraq got blown up/looted was not…malice aforethought, perhaps, not a deliberate demoralization campaign, but because we didn’t care about preserving them.
ETA: That would have been during the initial Desert Shield operation I’m talking about, which I’m guessing you weren’t part of.
catclub
@Aimai:
Boykin!
Villago Delenda Est
@Miss Bianca: The Army had its priorities set for it by the civilian chain of command. Oil Ministry: very important. Archaeological sites and explosives depots? Not so much.
GEN Shinseki was retired because he pointed out, on the record, that we didn’t have enough troops to do the occupation right.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Cool. Looking forward to your thoughts on it, redactions and all. (Maybe even get a front page post out of it?)
From what I’ve read, it reinforces a belief that not only severe reliance but unquestioned trust in electronic technology over human intel (flawed as that also can be) and good old-fashioned deep level analysis is a growing problem. “Who ya gonna believe? The partial satellite readout or your lying eyes?”
catclub
@Amaranthine RBG:
Ollie North! Former VA Senatorial Candidate!
Which brings to mind Elliot Abrams ( who should be in war crimes prison) but is too much of a neocon to get the nod from Trump.
Villago Delenda Est
@catclub: I cannot tell you how many Marines (mostly retired types, like a buddy of my dad’s who served in WWII) have nothing but contempt for Ollie North.
Villago Delenda Est
@NotMax: Military mock acronyms seldom are. They reflect the reality of something that by its very nature can get effed up incredibly fast.
Miss Bianca
@Villago Delenda Est: And he was right. But wasn’t that part of Rumsfeld’s “run the military like a business” model that he was so (in)famous for? “Troops on demand”, or some such nonsense?
Villago Delenda Est
@NotMax: This scares me because I used to work intimately with fire control systems (I was a division artillery signal officer during my time in the Army). When I left the Army, there was still a lot of knowledge of the “pencil and paper” method of controlling artillery fire. Nowadays I shudder to think what goes on…particularly when I can astonish waitpersons with my ability to calculate a 15% tip in my head.
catclub
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Now that makes a lot of sense. The difference between Trump and Berlusconi is that Trump does not actually own the media. This could become a drawback.
MattF
@catclub: Boykin is actually now an official with the Family Research Council… and a ‘national security’ advisor to Ted Cruz. Sounds like he’s gone fully public wingnut.
catclub
@gene108:
The media may have, but the public continued to blame Bush for the bad economy until about 2013 – after Obama was re-elected. I was amazed and pleased. The populace elected Bush in 2004 and nearly did in 2000, but there is some learning in us.
BR
@Keith G:
What was the argument for those of us taking notes?
feebog
So based on all the comment so far, it looks like Trump will pick a latina porn star with some military experience.
chopper
@J.D. Rhoades:
“i’ll get off this cross when i’m damn good and ready” seems to be the motto of the bernie dead-ender these days.
cokane
huh, the WaPo went paywall, o well that’s the future now. Wish I could’ve read that butthurt screed in full
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: This is true!
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: No I wasn’t. During Operation Iraqi Freedom ensuring they were taken care of was given high priority – after the initial looting of the museums in Baghdad were allowed to happen. My teammates and I were personally responsible for preventing a patrol base from being built onto a tel. We were able to identify it with the locals, verify it was what it was, and keep it from being destroyed.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: I’ll do a front page, but its going to take me a week to get through it.
oldster
Just had to climb on to thank you for the phrase “schadenfreude-huffing Democrats.”
Sign me up! Actually, I may have been a founding member.
Adam L Silverman
@feebog: USAF Staff Sergeant (ret) Michelle Manhart:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/20/playboy-posing-veteran-in-flag-scuffle-sets-off-debate-over-everything/
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@chopper: you forgot, ‘this cross that you bullies forced me to nail myself to!”
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Well, holy crap cakes, Batman…you may just have located Trump’s VP pick! Possibly before he has!
Technocrat
@Adam L Silverman:
Someone needs to write a country song about The Devil and you getting into a Google search contest. :=)
@Miss Bianca:
Also, too, this.
Adam L Silverman
@Technocrat: I like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWVcIn7Q4Cc
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: She seems nice.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: I just remember her from the Valdosta State flag meshugas a couple of years ago. Nothing like a self righteous, god bothering, playboy posing against orders and then complaining you’re being persecuted for having your career cut short for failing to follow those orders, uber patriot.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: And well adjusted.
Miss Bianca
@Technocrat: Oh, God…now *that’s* funny. “The Devil laid his golden laptop at Adam’s feet…”
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Every last inch of her:
http://www.esscurve.com/2015/04/af-vet-michelle-manhart-wears-patriotism/
Not sufficient for work! Or small children! Or, perhaps, large children!
And that was the first or second result from doing the following key word search: “georgia air force sergeant retired for sexy photos”. I didn’t even remember her name!
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
I heard a reporter on NPR yesterday who said the transcript showed that the junior officer who was doing the actual targeting spoke up and gave the correct coordinates, but s/he was overriden by the superior officer who insisted that the hospital building was the right target. If that’s the case, it sounds like the problem may have been a commander who refused to rely on the computer.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: From what I’ve read so far it seems like no one on that crew had any clarity, except perhaps her, what the actual target was. I get the whole fog of war thing, but if you can’t accurately identify your target you do not reduce it.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Is it just me, or does the fact that she’s named “Manhart” sound like something out of a Ben Jonson play?
ETA: Just saw your other comment. In other words..perfect for Trump!
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Sure, if I knew who Ben Johnson was.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
I was listening in the car, but that was the gist of it. It sounded like one of those moments when investigators are listening to the recorded exchanges later and end up clutching their heads, knowing what’s about to happen next.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: THIS. Smacks of “close enough for government work” to me.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: oh…erps. Contemporary of Shakespeare’s. Wrote (among other things) “Volpone”. Famous for using the convention of naming his characters for their principal traits, which was taken to its height during the Restoration period – so you have things like mistresses being named “Loveit” or rakes being named “Horner”.
Why yes, I am a theater geek…
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: @Villago Delenda Est: And its not like it was troops in contact, pinned down, taking fire, and needing direct support. They could have hovered a bit longer until someone back at the JTAC deconflicted what they were looking at and dialed them into the correct target.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Okay, now I’m tracking.
Technocrat
@Miss Bianca:
“golden laptop” OMG. That needs to happen.
Miss Bianca
@Technocrat: As the man himself says…”tracking”. ; )
Technocrat
@Adam L Silverman:
That’s EXACTLY the music I was thinking of. And…you found it on Google!
/shiver
SuzieC
@Adam L Silverman: Also what I’m hearing from son in the Navy. Although they are taught to be non partisan and apolitical, the underground muttering is that they are terrified of Trump and nobody wants him.
Mike G
@SuzieC:
Here’s hoping that regardless of the election outcome, the stain of Trump hangs on the Repuke party for a hundred years.
Aimai
@Adam L Silverman: I agree! With amaranthine. I’d also add that if the hypothetical general can’t appear in a gold braided uniform like a costume drama Cossack working as a doorman trump is going to refuse to choose him.
planetjanet
@shomi: I think Trump will pick a former Miss America contestant, for the woman vote.
SiubhanDuinne
@cokane:
I think they allow 10 freebies per month, and today’s the last day of the month. Try it again after midnight and you’ll probably be able to read it in its entirety.
Adam L Silverman
@SuzieC: I’m going to do a post around the Huffington Post article on this topic. Given that he’s been reported to be a micromanager and for setting his personnel against each other to compete for results is just a recipe to break a zero defect, up or out military that still has to be able to build cohesion to depend on one’s unit, squad, platoon, etc mates when the balloon goes up.
Adam L Silverman
@Aimai: I can no longer tell if you all are serious or just giving me grief.
Adam L Silverman
@Technocrat: it’s one of my favorite (sort of) covers of Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: OK, I finally broke down and watched that and…uh…fuck?!
Kind of a nice brain cleanser from Amazon training videos.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: the last bit at the end is great
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: yeah, sweet punchline. ; )
I guess that’s my favorite re-work version of that tune now next to this one. It’s off O’Connor’s “Heroes” album – I had no idea there was a cheesy video to go with it!
Capri
The obvious VP pick won’t be a general but “The General” – Bobby Knight.
SuzieC
@Adam L Silverman: Looking forward to it and will send to my son.
Ken
I still think George Will’s problem is that he’s thought of himself as an opinion leader for years, and suddenly realized that he’s not.
redshirt
I hope Trump does an Apprentice style competition for the VP spot. Yuuge ratings.
Spacecakes
@J.D. Rhoades:
I’m gonna hazard a guess that your wording in that blog comment might perhaps have been a bit more provocative than “I suggest that Clinton’s vote for the Iraq war calls her judgement into question”
J.D. Rhoades
@Spacecakes:
Actually, that was pretty much the exact wording.
Betsy
@shomi: that would be Putin
maysonic
Did Will just, in effect, call Trump a Nazi? Or doesn’t he remember who Vidkun Quisling was?